|
ymerej1789
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Jeremy
Country: United States
State: California
Birthday: 1/7/1989
Gender: Male
Interests: Friends, Wii, DS, PC games, running around playing some sport, reading, daydreaming, thinking, sleeping, eating, relaxing...
Expertise: I lack expertise, jack of all trades, master of none
Occupation: Student
Industry: Government
Message: message meEmail: email me
AIM:  jpi1789
Member Since:
9/30/2003
|
|
| New Blogjeremysquared.blogspot.com
a little joint thing with a good buddy of mine. I might create another blogspot for more personal things, but anything political, cultural, more global in scope will go in J^2.
Xanga has grown a little old, so it's time to move on. But for the sake of those who read this through the subscription menu, I'll post links to my new blogs every now and then. I'll check my subscriptions too because there are some of you who I will want to keep myself informed on (no I'm not stalking any of you...).
Cheers
| | |
| Waiting on the Big OneYeah, we're due to be rocked. I guess that's what we get for settling in the Golden State.
Fun.
Would it be worse if I was there and we got hit with a 6.5+ magnitude quake or if I was here and my family and friends back home got hit with a monster quake?
And what happens if it strikes right before I'm supposed to leave for school in August? Or right before I'm supposed to head back?
Food, water, flashlights, batteries...hmm, makes me wonder just how prepared the family and the state is for such an event. Our governator handled the fires decently, but an earthquake will do much more massive damage because few people live and do business in the mountains and forests of California.
I think I mentioned this before here on xanga, but a report released in 2000 by the federal government listed the three most likely disasters to hit the U.S. in the next decade:
1) Terrorist attack in NYC
2) Hurricane landing on New Orleans
3) Earthquake rocking the greater Los Angeles area
1) check
2) check
3) pending
| | |
| Olympic PoliticsChapter 1 Article 1& 2 of the Olympic Charter:
"Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.
The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the
harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful
society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."
----------------------------------------------
When the IOC and the various countries that lack the courage to stand up against China say that the Olympics are not to be politicized, they are simply wrong. The banning of South African delegates because of apartheid, the boycott of Moscow because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the subsequent boycott of the Los Angeles games by the Soviets. The Games have had a history of being politicized and for good reason.
If the Olympics are about a philosophy on how man shall develop and grow with the help of sport, then it is clearly very different from a normal sporting event. March Madness just concluded (with quite the entertaining bang) and the NBA playoffs are due to start in a couple weeks. Those are real sporting events and the Olympics are nothing like them. This is about different countries coming together and promoting peace and goodwill through the competitive nature of sport. Beijing achieved its bid for this summer's Olympics because the IOC believed that it would be a good opening ceremony for China to the world. And the fact is that China has gone to great pains to make this its coming out party, going to such extremes as to pulling cars off the road to limit its incredible pollution (which a good deal of it is exported to the west coast of the U.S.). The buildings being put up are some impressive structures and the people seem to be fairly hyped up for such an international event being held in their capital.
Then Tibet happened. Never mind that Tibet has been "happening" for half a century now or that China supports the Sudanese government that is allowing genocide to take place. Beijing says 22 people have died in the last several weeks. They also say those who have died are mostly Han Chinese...because when your own military comes rolling through a tumultuous region, they are going to shoot at your own people. To be fair, let's also assume that the figure of 140 dead, given by Tibetan exile groups is exaggerated as well.
But it doesn't really matter. The fact is that people are dying, hundreds are being imprisoned for wanting their spiritual leader and culture back. This should not be representative of the country hosting an event that is supposed to concerned with the "preservation of human dignity." A Chinese national was recently imprisoned for 3 1/2 years because of his dissent against the government's treatment of Tibet. His crime? Subversion against the state and because he supposedly confessed to his "crime," the punishment was "light." Three and a half years away from his family and life because he expressed discontent with his government.
It is interesting to note that China again and again refers to outsiders meddling in its internal affairs. But the matter at hand is that the Olympics have been given to China to hold. The world stage is theirs for the time being. Their internal affairs are even more exposed and are going to more scrutinized than ever before. And thus, it is no wonder that so many groups have seized this opportunity to protest against China's abominable record on human rights (Note: I realize the U.S. and most of the world's record is not much better). London, Paris, San Francisco, every stop of the torch has been met with the frustrations of hundreds and thousands of people who are tired of what China is doing with its power. China has threatened more force should anything erupt when the torch passes through Tibet, and I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the Tibetans are not going to stay at home and twiddle thumbs while a symbol of supposedly world unity passes through their territory.
The Olympics are meant to be more than just a mere sporting event. Thus, I applaud the French, Czech, and every other leader who is taking this opportunity to at least voice the possibility of their boycotting some part of the Olympics. Is it fair that athletes who have trained for a good portion of their lives give up the opportunity to compete for the gold on the world's most prestigious sporting stage (and that's an arguable point as well...the World Cup and various world championships draw large audiences and the best athletes as well). The Charter specifically mentions that the Games are not meant as a country vs. country competition but as competition between athletes. So perhaps it is not fair that countries use the Games as a bludgeon against another country's practices.
But that kind of thinking skirts the real issue at hand. Every human being has certain rights, life/health, food, water, freedom of expression, etc, etc. and while certainly the world is not perfect and these rights are lacking in many areas beyond the Chinese borders, the blatant violation in a country like China that is hosting an event as large as the Games is deserving of more attention and scrutiny. Therefore, as representatives of an event that is supposed to preserve human dignity, these athletes should also be considering their presence at the Olympics and whether or not they should be competing and bringing attention to a country that is disregarding the "universal fundamental ethical principles" of its citizens and claimed people.
Some, predictably Chinese and sadly some Chinese Americans as well, say that these protests humiliate and destroy the spirit of the Games and of China. They say that is hypocritical of the Western world to criticize China's treatment of minorities while we ourselves struggle with racism and immigration (and wear clothes and use equipment made in China). Which is very well and true, but again, this skirts the issue at hand. Here in the U.S., people rose in support of the Jena Six and the obvious racism. People can protest freely (kind of). I can write that I extremely disapprove of George W. Bush's administration and not get imprisoned (not yet anyway, maybe Obama can reverse all those silly Patriot and anti-terrorism acts that don't actually have a measurable impact on anti-terrorism). And it's true that this could cause unneeded harmful sentiments against the Chinese here in the States and that would be a terrible thing, but still entirely the fault of the ignorant American who does come to feel such things. It does not help that the media is always longing to pounce on stories that feed their market share, using language to deliberately incite negative emotions.
But the bottom line is still the same. Genocide in more than one form is happening and its related to China. China is hosting an event meant to promote peace and understanding. How does any country and its athletes go and compete with the knowledge that just by going, they are implicitly raising China's profile and, I believe, approving of China's behavior. Would one go to another's house to hang out if they knew that house owner was sponsoring the suppression and murder of a group of other people?
| | |
|
